Tar Heel ATH visits Tigertown

One of the top two-way players in North Carolina talks about his top schools and his recent trip to Clemson.

Clemson has two things in its favor when it comes to the recruitment of
Shelby's (N.C.) Reggie Wilkins.

First it's the fact secondary coach
Charlie Harbison is a former Crest High School player himself. And second,
Harbison is his recruiter.

"I really like him. He is a nice guy," Wilkins said.

Wilkins also sees where Harbison gets his nickname from. It was during his
time at Crest that Harbison was given the nickname Cheese. Now everyone
calls him Coach Cheese.

"He is always smiling and is a real happy person," Wilkins said.

What could make Harbison even happier is if Wilkins decides to come to
Clemson to play football. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound athlete is being
recruited to Clemson as a defensive back. He was at Clemson Saturday for
the Orange and White game and he really liked what he saw out of the
defensive backs and the secondary as a whole.

Wilkins, who has said he does not care what position he plays in college,
is one of the more versatile players in the state of North Carolina. As a
two-way player, he has put up big numbers in his career. As a sophomore he
played both defensive back and wideout, and then last year he moved to
quarterback where he rushed for 994 yards and 15 touchdowns, while
throwing for another 914 yards and five more scores.

The rising senior only threw two interceptions all season.

"We changed our offense last year to Appalachian [State's] offense," Crest head coach Roy Kirby told Scout.com recently. "We went up there and spent a lot of days, and put that in just because of Reggie. He's a lot like our Armanti Edwards – same number, left-handed, the whole shooting match.

"I like the atmosphere," Wilkins said. "I have been down there a couple of
times now and I really like that."

"The kid can throw it 60 yards on a rope – he can sling it, he's got a great arm. But this offense also gives him the opportunity to do a lot of our running. He's a tough kid. He'll run over you if he gets a chance, but most of the time he'll run by you."

Clemson has not offered Wilkins yet, but Harbison did ask him following
Saturday's Spring Game, "How do you feel about being a Clemson Tiger?"

Wilkins, who also came up to Clemson last month for Junior Day, must feel
good about that because he has Clemson listed in his top three along with
North Carolina and N.C. State. Only the Wolfpack have offered thus far.

North Carolina and N.C. State have both said he could play offense or
defense. Besides those three, he is also receiving interest from
Tennessee, Florida, Duke, LSU, Penn State, South Carolina, Purdue, Navy,
Syracuse, Michigan State, Illinois, Louisville and Notre Dame.

Wilkins said Clemson has sent him a lot of letters, including ones about
the new staff, the university itself and the team's theme for this
upcoming season.

As for what he saw Saturday, he really liked the enthusiasm of the team
and he thinks the Tigers will have a good season. As for the visit itself,
he wishes he could have had more time to see the facilities and talk more
with Harbison and the rest of the coaching staff.

He was disappointed he did not get to meet head coach Dabo Swinney because
he arrived late and the game was about to start. He said he hopes to get
to talk with Swinney when he comes for camp this summer.

He also plans to take a visit or two to a couple of games this year as
well.

"I like the atmosphere," Wilkins said. "I have been down there a couple of
times now and I really like that."